A Pakistani judge has declared, somewhat belatedly, that the attempted murder rap against little Muhammad Musa Khan probably should never have come to court.

As we noted earlier this week, the infant had gone on the lamb lam after being lumped in with a mob of 30 people who were charged with trying to kill bill collectors.

Baby Musa Khan was charged with attempted murder along with his father and grandfather after a mob angered by gas cuts and price increases turned violent, throwing stones at police and gas employees trying to collect bills. Apparently, the baby was slapped with the charge when a victim complained that the whole family had beaten him up. The complaint was taken very literally.

It takes a village, right? After crying during his fingerpainting fingerprinting session, Musa Khan was out on bail. There was some uncertainty about whether he would return to court today for his second appearance, but alas, he did (chaperoned, of course) and it was there that the Pakistani justice system decided to drop the charges.

One of the more curious aspects of the ordeal was that the child was accused of "planning" the murder and threatening police. There's no word yet on how the other 12 members of Musa's family will fare as the case moves ahead.

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.

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